Chapter 6 - THE APOLOGY THAT BECAME A CAGE
Victor did not shout when he confronted Elena.
That frightened her more.
He sat beside her on the bed and placed the notebook between them.
“You think I want you dead?”
Elena moved toward the edge of the mattress.
“I heard you and your mother.”
“You recorded a private conversation?”
“You asked how long I had to be missing before you could declare me dead.”
Victor covered his face with both hands.
When he looked up, he was crying.
He claimed Evelyn had become obsessed with saving the company.
He said he had only asked legal questions to understand how far she might go.
“I was trying to protect you from her.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you’re carrying our baby. I didn’t want to frighten you.”
He promised they would leave Colorado.
He offered to sign a postnuptial agreement surrendering all rights to Elena’s trust.
For one dangerous moment, she believed him.
Then he reached for her hidden phone.
Elena pulled away.
Victor grabbed her wrist.
The softness vanished from his face.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
He twisted her arm until she dropped the phone.
Victor destroyed it beneath his shoe.
Elena screamed.
He covered her mouth.
“You are going to calm down,” he whispered. “You are going to stop creating evidence against your own family.”
He locked her in the bedroom.
For six hours, Elena had no phone, no car keys and no way to contact Adrian.
Evelyn arrived after dark.
She stood outside the locked door and spoke as though disciplining a child.
“You forced Victor into this.”
Elena placed both hands over her stomach.
“My baby is not safe here.”
“Your baby will inherit everything. That makes the child safer than any of us.”
The words confirmed Elena’s deepest fear.
The baby was not a person to Evelyn.
The baby was access.
Victor eventually opened the door and returned Elena’s regular phone. All messages to Adrian had been deleted.
He told her they were taking a short trip.
“A babymoon,” he said.
Elena refused.
Victor showed her a photograph of Adrian entering the secured parking garage beneath his office.
“We know where he goes.”
“You wouldn’t hurt him.”
“I don’t know what my mother would do if you embarrassed her.”
Victor packed Elena’s clothes.
Their destination was a private lodge near Blackthorn Mountain.
The area had poor cell service, deep snow and a cliff locals avoided during winter storms.
As Elena watched Victor carry her suitcase outside, she realized the trip had only one purpose.
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He was taking her somewhere an accident would be easy to believe.
👉 Elena was being driven toward Blackthorn Cliff, but Victor did not know she had hidden one final emergency device inside her hospital bracelet.
